Free Time
by writingwhimseys
Summary: Barry has the afternoon to himself and Iris has no clue why the lights are on at the lab. Quick one-shot based on Season 2, before WestAllen was official, and my own hope that Barry Allen, being a total nerd, would like 80's music. K-plus because abs are abs.


Disclaimer: I don't own or am affiliated with The Flash, CW, or anything related to The Flash or CW in any way.

A/N: I've been writing this for a while, and I figured now's the time to post the darn thing. Takes place sometime in Season 2, before WestAllen became truly canon.

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Barry stood at the center console, watching the city patrol system as it scoped out Central City. Aside from him, the lab was empty; the only sound to accompany his thoughts was the gentle whirring of motors and beeping of modems as the system did its job. Barry had to admit, he was lucky to have teammates who could hook this kind of stuff up. He might be a chemistry nerd and a pretty smart guy (if he did say so himself), but his limited knowledge of circuitry just didn't stand up to Cisco's expertise or even Caitlin's for that matter. If this had been his handiwork, Central City would be doomed.

Turning his attention away from the patrol software, Barry shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around. His official work day had ended already and he was free for the evening- even though the S.T.A.R. Labs team would hang around for night crime watches sometimes, Barry didn't think anyone else was coming in so late in the day. For the first time in a long time, he had the place all to himself. To Barry, this seemed like too good an opportunity to waste.

After a few seconds of the gears in his head turning, Barry remembered some equipment he'd left in the basement. He had been trying to develop a flame-throwing device he could use in emergencies when his super speed wasn't enough to take down a criminal or metahuman. Perhaps it wasn't the most practical weapon he could've thought of, but, after having watched Firestorm perform in battle, he'd been itching to try the whole flame thing himself. (Fire and super-speed? Oh, yeah.) With Zoom causing chaos, however, free time had been at an all-time low, so he'd never gotten to finish the weapon.

Glancing down at his wrist, Barry checked his watch; he had a few hours to kill. That was just enough time to finish the wiring and get started on calibration. Perfect. With a grin, Barry sped out of the main lab and headed for the basement.

It was hours later, as the sun was just beginning to set, when Iris parked her car outside of STAR Labs, a frown plastered on her face. She'd dropped in that afternoon to check up on things and get some data analysis results that Caitlin had been helping her with. Naturally, of course, she had left her paperwork for tomorrow's story pitch behind. Iris sighed as she locked her car and started towards the building. No one could deny that she was one of the more successful reporters at her news office, but her habit of misplacing things would land her in much hotter water one of these days, Iris was sure of it.

As Iris let herself into the building and began the trek to the main lab, she noticed that most of the hallway lights were still on. She frowned to herself- the lights were usually on a timer, unless someone turned them on manually. To the best of Iris's knowledge, though, no one should have been at the lab that late. Unease flooding her mind, Iris quickened her pace. Reaching the main atrium, she expected to find either Cisco running late-night diagnostics or, on the flipside, someone who was up to no good. To her surprise, however, Iris jogged into the lab to find it empty.

As her adrenaline lowered just a notch, Iris's eyes flashed over the screens of the computer setup at the head of the room. The security system appeared to be untouched and running normally, and there were no warning messages or flashing lights, which put Iris at ease. Still, a sense of confusion nagged at her; if the labs were open and secure, who was here and where were they? She didn't want to leave the building up and running if someone had just forgotten to shut things down. Brow furrowed, Iris realised she was going to have to do a little searching. Quickly locating her lost work file and grabbing it, she turned on her heel and left the room.

Starting with the labs on the main floor, Iris began her search. As she checked each room, however, she found them all empty and inactive. It wasn't long before Iris started to wonder if she was wasting her time. By the time she finished the floor and headed down to the basement, her mood had grown into one of annoyance and she was fully prepared to ream out whoever was making her go through all this effort when she tracked them down.

As she stepped out of the elevator and into the basement corridor, she paused. In the quiet of the hall, she could just catch a glimmer of sound coming from the passage to her left. As she followed the sound, which grew louder with each step, she recognized familiar strains of music and her face crinkled with confusion. _Is that...80s music?_ At the same time, Iris spotted a door down the hall that was cracked open, tendrils of light creeping out from around its jam. Her jaw setting in a firm line as she quickened her pace, she reached the door, swung it open wide, and froze.

Three things registered in Iris's mind as she took in the sight before her. Firstly, she was in one of the larger testing labs, its high ceilings and steel beams stretching out above her. Secondly, the music was ear-splittingly loud in the room, the bass line shuddering in her chest as she entered. Thirdly, it appears that the room was on fire. For a moment, Iris didn't move, the light, heat, and sound of the room enveloping and overwhelming her. Then, after a second, her eyes began to adjust. As the room became clearer in her vision, she let out the breath she'd been holding in. Despite the initial sight, the lab was not on fire- however, littering the room were a series of practice targets that were indeed up in flames, as well as a few smoldering piles of what must have been targets before their demise. As Iris stepped into the lab, she looked around for a moment. Despite everything being of fire, there didn't seem to be anyone in the room. However, as she turned her attention to the music that filled the room, she heard a familiar voice, its tenor cadence mingling with the vocals of the song. As the chorus began to play, Iris walked around the corner and stopped in her tracks.

About twenty feet away, fiddling with a glove that looked like a cross between an oven mitt and a web shooter and singing at the top of his lungs, was Barry. With a pair of safety goggles perched on his nose and barely contained happiness painted on his face, he looked like he was about twelve years old again. Iris watched as he turned a dial on the contraption and, pausing his singing performance to aim across the room at a target, pressed a button. At the same time as the music in the room hit a high note, a ropy stream of flame came spitting out of the glove and hit the target dead on, creating a cloud of fire and dusty wreckage where the target has been. At the explosion, Barry's free fist shot in the air and he let out a satisfied yell of glee. For a moment, he stood there, watching his flaming carnage with a combination of pride and excitement. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Iris.

In the blink of an eye, Barry's grin dropped off of his face and was replaced with surprised shock. The music blared on as the pair stood there, each trying to process the other's existence. A few seconds passed before Barry took off like a bolt of lightning, turning off the music and coming to an unsteady stop a few feet away from Iris. Silence fell between them again. After a moment, Barry reached up to rub his neck, an embarrassed look on his face.

"Sorry about that, I, uh, I didn't see you there." He said, waiting for Iris to react. Iris, however, didn't reply immediately. Instead, her gaze dragged down his body slowly, taking in his flushed face and lingering on his t-shirt that sweat and the heat of the fire had caused to cling to his abs. As she did so, her gut twisted and she could feel heat begin to rise in her cheeks. Then her common sense kicked in. Tamping down the feelings inside her, she lifted her eyes and gave Barry a lopsided smirk.

"Looks like you've been pretty busy," she said, her voice teasing. Seeing her reaction, Barry relaxed a little and shrugged.

"I had some free time." He said, as if in defense of his actions. Iris raised an eyebrow.

"And you've been working on...flamethrowers?"

"Hey," Barry replied, leveling a finger at her. "Flamethrowers are cool."

"And very destructive. You'll do more damage than the metahuman you're fighting." Iris shot back. At this, Barry threw her a look and crossed his arms.

"Point taken, but still." He grumbled. Iris grinned in response.

"You do realize that it's almost 11 o'clock, right?" She asked.

"Really?" Barry's eyes grew wide and he fumbled with his watch, letting out a breath as he checked the time. "Wooooooowwww, time flies." He looked up at Iris sheepishly, and Iris laughed.

"Well, I'm going to head home. Need a ride?" She asked.

"I'm good. I've got to clean up." Barry replied, tipping his head in the direction of the target wreckage before continuing. "Plus, getting home will take, like, ten seconds." Iris nodded sagely.

"Right- super speed. Got it." She smiled and shook her head. "You know, sometimes I forget that you're the Flash and all." Barry just laughed and shot her a smile. As she met Barry's gaze, Iris could feel something within her shift again. This was the boy she'd grown up with, whose energy and curiosity were unparalleled and who she could be herself around. And yet, he was different. He had changed. When Iris looked at him now, she didn't see her childhood friend- she saw a man who had grown up. Iris still wasn't sure how she felt about that. Oblivious to the thoughts that rolled around Iris's mind, Barry sighed.

"Alright, well, I'll see you back at home, then." Barry said, with a smile, turning away from Iris and walking back to his workstation. As he began to pack up his tools, Iris watched him work. For a moment, she stood there, watchful and on the edge, looking about to speak. But the moment passed- Iris shifted her weight to her heels and, with a shallow sigh, she turned and walked out the door.


End file.
